Process for the manufacture of alcohol from grain in open vats with the employment of saccharifiying mucors.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

11mm: noonnan, or rams, FRANCE.

PROCESS FOB THE MANUFACTURE OF ALCOHOL FROM GRAIN IN OPEN VATS WITH THE EMPLOYMENT F SACCHABIFYING MUCORS.

Specification of Letters ratent.

Application filed December-7. me. Serial mi. 135.039.

No Drawing.

To alllulwm it may omm-n:

Be it known that l. llicxni BUL'LARU, of 117 Rue Snint-l'ntznre, Paris, France, chemist. luivo invented it new mul useful linprayed! Prom-es for the Manufacture of AL 001101 from Grain in Open Vats with the Einployment of Sacrhnrifyiug Mucum, which improvement is fully set forth in the follow'mg specification.

Commercial processes hitherto employed for .the manufacture of alcohol grain by nmcors only he divided into two classes:-

The processw employed by the Cliiuwe and the Annamilcs and certain tribes in Central Africa.

The P0068595 employed in Europe.

(a) n the processes employed by the Chinese and the Ammmttefi the groin (rite untl knolinng? which serves for the mono-- fncture of a who! is boiled in water in earthenware or iron pots but without Sit'tlll'l pressure. It is then cooled and dredged with a powder obtained by crushing fmenf Men is a ferment containing different kinds of mucors and yeast; which are preserved in more or less boiled starch; it is divided into small flat and rounded loaves about five to six centimeters in dianu-tcr and about two centimeters thick.

In this process chance mucors and yeastare employed simultaneously. The nmccrs and the yeasts are allowed to develop at the surface of the boiler grain without the addition of water, and it is only when seecharification is faiil advanced that the grain is placed in cart ienware jars with the addition of a certain vohime of water which then favors the derelopment of the yeasts owing to the sugar already produced and to the extracts whlch are sue ruled in the liqaid. The yields thus obtained are naturally very small and vary between 20% and 34% according to the grain employed. the latter figure being only reached when the process I is carried out to perfection.

(b) In commercial proceezas empio ed in Europe the principle is entirely di erent and-may be summarized as follows:-

1. The rlifierent organisms (mucors and yeast) which tako part in the manufacture of alcohol from grnin are. employed sepa-- rntely and successively. In the process termed xunylo the grain is boiled under pressure so as to obtain a fluid must which from Patented May 21,1918.

is delivered into u mt which, in order to avoid the intvrwntion of other microbes. r-ompletelr closed. cooled to u stlilnlill' temperature (37 to 39" C.) a pure vulture of mueor. for example, nun-or heta or non-or Htlt'lliltl't. is sewn Ill the rat When siiceluu'i-iirntion is very advanced. it pure culture of yeast is then sown so thnl the two orgnnimis work singlv and successively in the val as above stated.

2. In the process in which mucor Boulnrtl No. 5 is employed null which i called the Boulard process. the organisms mnployed (mucor Bonhu-(l Nos?) n'ml Bullitli'ti yeasts Nos. 21 to 30) :mso robust that it is no longer necessary to work with pure cultures. that is to say. .irpz\r:livl In other words, if for on) rvuson other microlnw )ilttlltlit' into tln- FKI'IINIIIHilOII rats work is not arrested: owing t [he ll'lbl fitlitns of those orguni-im the process is rzu'rierl out, in an absolutely ilifl'vrem llltlllilll from other rocesses hitherto employed and possesses. as has been set out in the French specificaiion No. 464.601. tinted lit-loin! 29th, 1 13, the following advnntage-=:--

Absolute sterilization of the air is no longer nwcsenry; this from the commercial point. of view results in the elimination of air filters the use of which greatly compli- .utrs the apparatus. and theelimmation of tubing.

The work only he Ctll'lltlll out in much 'more crmrontratetl musts so that the daily 0 a l production from the (llSi'tliQtlPF may be augmented in n t'OllSidtl'tll'Jlt! extent which varies from 30 lo 501] without. raising the general cost.

It is no longer necessary to employ a complciel vats gecnuse the. intervention of alien mirlnbvs dot-s not hinder the work and rlocs not diminish the yield to n material extent.

in processes hitherto employed the yields uhtnincd were seriously diminished by infections derive-d especially from the interferi'm'c of lactic or butyric ferments which killed the orgnniszns employetlthese risks no longer exist it the robust. and qniclcl working organisms are employed and :1 pmfvetly different and nmrh more simple procwe only he used which requires fewer we cautions and lcse rppurntus while producing superior resni.s and ields.

' The delicacy of the ocl organisms em- Wlwn the must lius air tight plant and especially the ployml (niurors uinl yeasts) nwessituted (hflul'unlup mrutus and a dill'cront process vsuch as the cm iloyment of yeast vats, stark liznlion of lho 'crinentution vnts with water in stuuul het'orc introduction of the must; into the \"nrs, liltrution of the air in wnd ling fil lei-s. cooking by expansion which requires two u-ppui-utus. u cooker and an expansion vessel.

Frcuvh ilistilleriv which have hitherto lll||)ltl \('ll the nun-or llouhu'd have increased llu'll' daily production and their yield in the rnorniuus proportion sut. ontubove. An imporlunt economy in coal is also cfi'cctcd owing to tho economics mstealnduc to n greater cooking concentration. 1nd to the greater qnuntit-y of alcohol obtained In tho musts and also clue to the fact that tho irrmrntation rats (in not. require to be .-l(*lllizml hrforc introduction of the mnst.

'lhc process according to this invention, 1n which mucor Bonlurrl No. 5 nrother inucors which may pmscss tho same qualities are employed. lll il'crs substantially from theprocrsses hitherto described um'l used. The invention relates to n process for the manufacture of alcohol from 1'uin in open wood or iron \nts by the amp oyment of mucors. The mucors uniployed, for example, mucor Boulurd No. 5, are first cultivated in a yeast.

vat. whosuvolume isono fifth or one sixth of the volume of the main working vat. The

' cooked grain (rico,muize. manioc, liaoliang,

etc.) is brought to the condition of a fluid must and is introduced into the yeast vat: and cooled to the tcmperature of 43 Cz lt is then sown with a balloon of mucor and after a certain number of hours the yeast rat:- is filled with filaments of mucors.

Further the necessary quantity of grain to fill with must the large fermentationvat is cooked in the same cooker; th s vat may be of iron or Maori and may he open or closed ,as there is not. any necessity for storilizing it.

The vnt. is unprovidecl with agitators as agitation takes place by the air assing in at the-bottom this air is not steri izcd or even washed in any manner hv bubbling-or otherwise. The rat is provided with inner cooling worms and when its temperature has fallen to 40 or 43 (Lit is sown with the fer mont; which has been cultivated in the small closed ycnst vat. Un'rler these conditions in u. very small number-of hours the mucorfills the large vat and sacchilrificut-ion of the starch comment-es.

Shortly after the. inucnr forment is introduced into the large vat a balloon of yoast containing :1. purelveast is poured in. The concentration of the must should be such that alcoholic fermentation commences when succharificntion of the starch is almost finishe l; If. for example. ricc at 18% concentration is employed saccharifloatlon'of the is complete: i. a. there remains in the var,

neither stun-.11 nor glucose.

This process tlllfers in the following nmnnor from those hitherto employcflz- 1. So far as rrlutcs to working with lllllL'OIS hitherto fermcnts have never been sown in upon vats. In=priorpr0cesses ycast vats, it is true. have been employed, but it was only to gain timmnncl these yeast vuts served to sow large closed vats in which as pure cultures as possible of moot-1s and yeasts were nmintamed; inthc present pron ess on the contrary the employment is claimed of mucors and yeasts under ahso lutul) novel conditions which hitherto have never been carried out commercially.

In this new process the harmful ferments arr constantly present. The lactic ferment which in the amylo process completely stopped work in closed vats is always present; in a process carried out in conformity with .tho prescntinvention and in open vats the presenceof lactic ferment does not; resnlt in any loss in the yield or on the dnrw .l;i0n of process owing to the method 'ahove'desctibed and to t-be employmcxR of the robust organisms in question.

2. In thenative proccsseswhich have been above described mucors and: yeasts in open vats or oven in earthenware jars are cmplo ed, but the results obtained are very in- -cli erent; this is because several chance species of mucors and numerous chance spcclcs ojyeasts operate together and not successively. and because. due to the lack of robustness of these, species owing to nonsclection, harmful bucteginnnrl diflerent microbes from the air. such as lactic. bubyrio or acetic ferments. clrvclop in the must at the expense of tho stgrch which explains the small yield obtnihcrl under those conditions. 3. One of the bnsvs ol' this nov'cl process besides the foregoing i a principle of hue teriology which has not hitherto been upplied connnercially and is us follows The concentration of the anrvlnccout: malters (maize, rice. mnnioc. ricc brismes, p0- tatoes, etc.) should bn calculated in such a mnnnor that the period of working in the large vats. 1 n. succhurifirutiou and alcoholic fcrmentation' should terminate about fortytwohonrs nftcr sowing the nnicor ferment. During this period the fcrmcnls imrl bill.- tc-rm which are in tho air hunt the surtnnc of the grain have not limo todevelop sufficiently,in the muststmcreate a. medium capable of-hindering the; action of the mucors or robust'ai'ld selected yeasts.

Claims:

1. The process of makin alcohol consisting in saccharifying H111 must with robust mucors and after t e mucor filaments have attained a vigorous growth fermenting the resulting saccharine bodies with pure yeast. thereby completing the conversion of the starch of the must into alcohol before harmful bacteria develop to hinder the action of the mucor-s and yeast.

2. The process of making alcohol consistl jug in providing from liquid must two portions differing in volume, sowing the ortion of smaller volume with robust, saoc arifying mucors and when the mucor filaments have developed therein introducing the same into the larger portion of must to therein develop and saccharify the starch of the second portion of must, and shortly after saccharification starts introducing pure yeast to ferment the saccharine matter as developed from the starch thereby in creasing the velocity of saccharification and fermentation in the second .portion and avoiding growth of bacteria harmful to the formation of alcohol. 1

8. The process of making alcohol, consisting in providin from li llld must two poitions having v umes of a out 1 to 5, sowing the smaller portion with mucor Boulard No. 5 and when the mucor filaments have developed introducing the same into the larger of said portions to therein develop and saccharify the starch, shortly after saccharification start-s introducing pure yeast to ferment the saccharine matter as developed from the starch thereby increasing the velocity of saccharification and fermentation in the second portion and avoiding growth of bacteria harmful to the formation of alcohol.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRI BOULARD.

Witnesses:

GAEIION on Mnsmn, CHAS. P. PREBSLY. 

